Olga Khatskevich lived in Talachyn with her husband Fyodor and son Leonard. The Belarusian Olga Pleskach also lived with them, taking care of the household and three-year-old Leonard. When the German Wehrmacht occupied Talachyn in July 1941, Khatskevich lost her position as technical manager in a distillery. Shortly later, the local police commander broke into Khatskevich’s house, took away her identity papers, beat her, and locked her inside. Olga Pleskach managed to free Olga and Leonard Khatskevich and hide them with her sister-in-law Maria Kostish in neighboring Khakhlouka. The police commander launched a search for the mother and son, meaning they had to hide in a pit in the forest for a time.
In the fall of 1941, Kostish’s home was raided. Olga and Leonard Khatskevich once again managed to escape, and Olga Pleskach joined them. The three of them walked 45 miles (70 km) to Orsha, where non-Jewish relatives of Khatskevich’s husband lived. Olga Khatskevich hid there with her son until their liberation in 1944. She was reunited with her husband a year later.